Commentary on Radio & Audio

January 2013

January 09, 2013

Yesterday
while I was sitting at my desk, my cell phone made an alert noise (even
though the volume was turned down) and an Amber Alert flashed on the
screen. That reminded me of the need to put radio on mobile phones, not
only so radio can entertain, but so alerts can go out to phones even
when cell towers are down or not functioning, as during Hurricane Sandy.

Coincidentally, Ed Ryan yesterday broke the story
that Sprint had announced that several models of Android and Windows
smartphones will be enabled over the next few years with FM radio chips
and the NextRadio platform, developed by Emmis Communications.

Though
Sprint has already had offered some phones with FM chips in the past (I
had it on my HTC Evo two years ago), this is the first time FM will be
offered on a wide variety of devices.

Why is this a big deal? As I have written in the past, radio transmitters work when the power is down and when cell phone towers are not working. An FM
chip can send emergency messages to all enabled phones during a storm, a
power outage, or a national emergency. The cell companies can't do that
without placing expensive generator plants at all cell tower locations,
a virtual impossibility.

Additionally,
some claim the carriers cannot possibly keep up with ever-growing
bandwidth consumption, and this will allow radio listening on a phone
without the need for streaming. Phones may soon be able to transparently
switch between streaming and a local radio signal, saving both
bandwidth and battery life.

Radio's
big win here is that now we have expanded our potential reach. We're in
100 percent of cars and now on more smartphones. Though it's only
Sprint so far among the major carriers and won't include Apple devices,
this sends a giant pro-radio signal to the marketplace, offering Sprint a
competitive advantage until others catch up. After all, radio listening
remains strong, and we will see increases in listening with the
convenience of a radio in the pocket.

Will
others follow? Hard to tell, but this is great news and a giant leap
for radio, thanks to the leadership of Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan, who has
made this his top mission for the industry.

Last year Radio Ink
and Dick Orkin's Radio Ranch made radio spots available to put pressure
on wireless providers and consumer electronics manufacturers to offer
radio in cell phones. Many stations are still running these spots, and
they continue to be available here.

Though
the battle to be on all mobile phones continues to be a lofty goal,
congratulations are in order to Jeff Smulyan and his team.